Shere Hite asked thousands of women what almost no one else dared to: How do you really feel about sex and orgasms?
My colleague Rob Kelly ranked this one #5 on his list of the best feminist documentaries. Also, shout out to the IDA Newsletter for putting this one on my radar.
Trailer for “The Disappearance of Shere Hite”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Hite mailed out about 100,000 sex surveys in the 1970s. More than 3,000 women anonymously told her intimate details about masturbation, orgasms, sex and their relationships.
- “The Hite Report” became a huge international bestseller. Decades later, she is far less famous than sex researchers like Alfred Kinsey and Masters and Johnson.
- The backlash against Hite became so intense that she left the United States. In 1995, she gave up her U.S. citizenship and became a German citizen.
Watch “The Disappearance of Shere Hite”
You can watch “The Disappearance of Shere Hite” on Prime Video and Apple TV.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 93/100
- IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 97/100 (Users); 100/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: Nicole Newnham directed this 118-minute documentary. She also co-directed “Crip Camp.” Dakota Johnson narrates Hite’s writings and also serves as an executive producer.
Release Date: January 20, 2023 (Sundance Film Festival); November 17, 2023 (U.S. release)
Other Unique Stuff
- Hite was reportedly used as the model for two women featured in a James Bond poster.
- Hite didn’t limit her activism to research. The documentary connects her with feminist organizing and shows her supporting opposition to Anita Bryant’s campaign against gay rights.
- Her findings challenged the idea that intercourse was the “proper” way women should reach orgasm. Hite focused attention on clitoral stimulation and on the huge gap between women’s actual experiences and popular assumptions about sex.
Wrap Up:
“The Disappearance of Shere Hite” is both a fascinating sex-history lesson and the story of how a woman can go from international fame to being nearly written out of that history.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc